


Found My Place

by EchoJulien



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 01:42:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15402198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoJulien/pseuds/EchoJulien
Summary: With the cover operation destroyed, Lloyd, Nya, Pixal, and Skylor need a safe place to stay, and end up meeting someone completely unexpected.





	Found My Place

“We can’t keep doing this.”

Lloyd looked over at Nya as she, Pixal, and Skylor stepped out of their hiding spots. This was the fourth time this morning they'd had to quickly hide from Garmadon’s forces. If they were found and captured...

Lloyd sighed. “I know. But I’m not sure what else to do. They found out about the cover operation, and the location of our base. They’ve captured our most dangerous allies, and know where the rest are located. If we go to any of those places, we’ll most likely be captured or put our allies in danger. Ninjago isn’t safe.”

“Then we leave Ninjago.”

“And go where? Garmadon knows about the Dark Island and Chen’s Island - which I’m sure none of us want to go back to.” 

Pixal shivered and Skylor flinched slightly at the mention of Chen’s Island, and Lloyd felt bad for bringing it up, but it had to be ruled out.

“Is there anywhere that Garmadon doesn’t know about?” Skylor asked. 

The group was silent for a few moments as they thought about Skylor’s question. 

“Well…” Nya began. “There is the lighthouse.”

“The one at the docks? Pretty sure Garmadon knows about that.”

“No! Not that one! The one Dr. Julien was imprisoned in!” 

Skylor frowned and looked to see if Pixal was as confused as she was, but was only more confused when the android was slowly nodding along. “I’m sorry. Who is Dr. Julien?” Skylor asked.

“Dr. Julien was Zane’s father,” Lloyd explained. “He was captured, taken to the lighthouse, and told to create machines for the Skulkin, or he would never see Zane again. They chained a leviathan to keep guard, and when they were done with Dr. Julien, they left him and the leviathan there. We ended up on the island, and helped both Dr. Julien and the leviathan escape.”

“Okay. But wasn’t Garmadon affiliated with the Skulkin?”

“He was. But he was trapped in the Underworld at the time of Julien’s capture and imprisonment. It’s unlikely he made a point to remember or even knew the location of the lighthouse in the first place. And he wasn’t with the Ninja when they arrived at the island,” Pixal said. 

Nya and Lloyd looked at Pixal curiously. 

“What? Zane’s told me about events that happened before we met. I have to say, the Pink Ninja and Royal Blacksmith stories are my favorite.”

Lloyd smiled at the memory of the prank he pulled, but then shook his head to dismiss it. “Anyway. At this point, the lighthouse is our best bet. Let’s try to gather whatever food and materials we can, then head to the docks.” 

Skylor’s eyes sparkled with mischief and she grinned. “Are we going to steal a boat?”

Lloyd sighed. “Yes. We’re going to steal a boat.”

*****

“There it is,” Lloyd pointed out.

Skylor and Pixal turned in the direction Lloyd was facing. In front of them, standing alone on a small island, was the lighthouse.

“Should only be a few minutes now,” Nya said as she continued to use her Elemental Powers to propel the boat through the water. She and Lloyd had been surprised when no Starteeth started jumping out at them - not that they complained. Those little monsters had done a lot of damage to the Bounty last time, and they could easily destroy the much smaller boat they were in now.

Nya was right. In less than five minutes, the group found themselves on the shore of the island. 

Together, they pulled the boat up and out of range of the ocean’s tide; they’d need the boat when they went back to Ninjago, and couldn’t have it float away. Once that was done, they grabbed what items they brought with them - mainly non-perishable food, water and a water filter, some blankets and extra clothes, and tools/parts for Pixal just in case - and started up the outer steps. 

At the top, Lloyd reached out to knock on the door, but remembered that no one was there. Instead, he reached for the handle and pushed it down slowly.

When the door opened, Lloyd scanned the area. Nothing seemed any different from the last time he was there - granted that was years ago - and nothing stood out to him, so he walked in. The girls followed him, and once the door was closed, they all headed upstairs.

Upstairs was much of the same story. Everything seemed just about as Lloyd remembered it. 

But something seemed…off.

Lloyd set his bag on the table, and took a moment to wipe his hand across the surface. “Huh. Weird.”

“What’s up Lloyd?” Skylor asked.

“There’s no dust on the table.” He turned and looked at the floor behind them. “Or on the floor. No one’s been here in years. There should be footprints on the floor where we walked, or a streak on the table where I swiped. But there’s nothing. It’s clean.” 

“Well what about Gizmo?” Nya said as she pressed a button on the top of said robot’s home. “He cleans things.”

Lloyd watched as the small robot exited his home and started moving around the room, seemingly curious about everyone. “Uh, I know I don’t know much about robots and machines, but should he still be moving? Or active at all?”

Nya shrugged. “Dr. Julien was a genius. The Juggernaut was still functioning after years of being without Julien, and it was out in the snow of Birchwood Forest. And Zane didn’t even originally realize he was an android remember?”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point. But there’s no way Gizmo could’ve cleaned some spots on his own; he couldn’t possibly reach all of them. And have you felt the energy of this place? It feels…lived in. By something other than Gizmo or the seagulls.”

“By who or what though? There’s only three people currently in this realm that know about the lighthouse, and two of us are here, while the other was captured by Garmadon.”

“I don’t know!” Lloyd said, wishing he hadn’t brought it up at all. He took a deep breath. “I’m still on edge from everything that’s been happening, so I could be wrong. Let’s just…stay cautious and keep an eye out okay?”

“Okay.”

After that, everyone busied themselves with unpacking and placing their items in easy-access places, completely unaware of the being on the stairs below them.

*****

They didn’t notice him until dinner. 

When the strangers had first walked in, he’d been hiding behind some boxes in the entryway. And once they’d climbed the stairs to the top of the lighthouse, he silently walked up after them and stayed just below the opening in the floor. 

He was curious as to why they were there, but he was also nervous. The last time visitors showed up, his father disappeared, and he didn’t want Gizmo to possibly disappear next. He couldn’t bear for something bad to happen to the little robot, and if Gizmo was gone, he’d be all alone.

He didn’t want to be alone.

Currently though, the feeling of not wanting to be discovered was greater, so he stayed out of sight and listened. Sometimes one of the strangers would get close to the opening in the floor and he would duck down on the stairs or stick to the ceiling next to them to keep from being spotted. 

But then, as the red-haired girl - or Skylor as he’d heard the others call her - finished making food for everyone, or at least for herself and the other two humans, Gizmo came over to the opening in the floor and began speaking to him. He was going to quietly tell Gizmo to go back to what he was doing before he got him caught, but then one of the others noticed Gizmo.

“What are you doing over there little guy?” He heard the only male, Lloyd, ask.

Gizmo looked down at him, and made a few noises before turning to the strangers and moving to the side, allowing them to see him. 

He gasped at being caught, and unsure of what else do to, ran down the stairs. 

He heard the strangers scramble to stand and follow him, shouting as they did so. However, he was faster than them. 

In no time, he was at the bottom of the staircase and moving across the entryway to a seemingly normal wall. However, when he pulled on a specific sconce (which was actually a secret lever), the wall opened and revealed a passageway going below the lighthouse. 

As he entered the passageway, he quickly hit a button on the wall, and the wall closed up behind him. Without breaking his stride, he continued down the passageway and into a small room, where he hid behind some shelves that contained boxes of various parts, tools, and blueprints. 

Even though he didn’t need to breathe, he took deep breaths to calm himself, just as his father had taught him. 

After a few moments he heard the wall reopen, picking out Gizmo’s familiar clicking sound among the footsteps, and knew they’d be there quickly.

In an effort to hide a bit better, he tried moving farther behind the shelving. Unfortunately, he accidentally knocked over a box while trying to move, and alerted the strangers to his hiding place.

He sensed rather than saw Lloyd step forward. 

“Hey, there’s no reason to be afraid,” the blonde said gently. “We didn't mean to frighten you, and we're sorry we did. I’m Lloyd, and my friends are Nya, Pixal, and Skylor. Please come out of hiding, I promise we won’t hurt you.”

He hesitated for a second before partially revealing himself. “I am Zane. Built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.” He then completely revealed himself, and stood in the light streaming from the window. 

“Zane?”

“Oh! When Dr. Julien was trapped here, he must’ve built a replacement Zane!” The dark-haired girl, who Zane assumed was Nya, said.

Nya’s last two words stuck out most to Zane. “Replacement Zane?” He asked while tilting his head.

The group of four exchanged a look, and Skylor was the one to speak next. “Why don’t we all go upstairs? We can tell you everything over dinner.”

*******

“So if I’m not Zane, and never was, who am I?”

“Whoever you want to be,” Lloyd said. 

“Oh.”

Nya placed a hand on the small android’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about figuring everything out yet. Let’s start with something small. What should we call you?”

The android was quiet for a short time before he responded. “Echo.”

“Echo?”

“Does it stand for something?” Skylor asked.

Echo tilted his head. “Stand for something?”

Pixal was the one to answer. “Yes. In Ninjago, a lot of androids have names that are acronyms, which are abbreviations formed from the initial letters of other words and are pronounced as a word. Take my name for instance. P.I.X.A.L. stands for Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Lifeform. Does E.C.H.O. stand for anything?”

Echo shook his head without looking at Pixal. “No. It doesn’t stand for anything. It’s just…I had a dream once where two people came to the island, and when they met me, they started calling me ‘Echo’. It seemed to fit me better than ‘Zane’ did, and now I know why.”

“Well,” Nya said with a smile. “‘Echo’ it is then. Now, how about you tell us some things about yourself?”

“About me?” Echo thought for a moment. “Well, I was built by Dr. Julien, right here in this lighthouse, and up until a few minutes ago, I thought I was his son Zane. But I guess I’m his son Echo? If he actually viewed me as a son,” he added quietly. He shook his head. “Anyway, umm…I learned to read, write, walk, run, and stick to or walk on walls and ceilings before I could talk. Fa-- Dr. Julien thought--”

“Wait. You can walk on walls and ceilings?” Lloyd asked.

The android nodded, then stood from his seat and approached the nearest wall. “Watch.” 

Lloyd and the girls looked on as Echo walked toward the wall, and watched in awe when he actually started walking up it, instead of falling off like they thought. He then switched from wall to ceiling, and walked until he was over the table, and waved at the others. Then he carefully walked back across the ceiling and down the wall until he got back on the floor. 

“That was pretty cool!” Nya said.

“Thank you.”

“What were you saying before?” Pixal asked. “What did Dr. Julien think about you doing all those things but not being able to speak?”

“Umm…Well, at first he thought there could’ve been a wiring or connection issue. But when he checked everything out, everything was fine. It was just how I was, and he accepted that, I think. Eventually, I was able to speak, and my first word was “father”. For about the first week after that, I almost wouldn’t be quiet, but I soon calmed down. There were still times where I preferred to not speak, and Julien respected that, as I hope you all will, since it still happens from time to time.”

Lloyd and the girls all nodded, and Gizmo made a noise in agreement. “Gizmo. You already knew that!” Echo laughed. 

After he finished laughing, he started speaking again. “How about I tell you things I like to do? I like to read, unfortunately though, I’ve read everything here so many times that I cannot read them anymore. I also like to draw, even though I’m not very good at it. And I’m out of drawing materials, but sometimes I’ll go outside and draw in the sand with a stick. Oh! Speaking of sand, I have to be careful around it, as well as dirt and dust; the small particles can easily get into my systems and irritate them.” 

“That’s why this place is so clean,” Skylor concluded.

Echo nodded. “Yes. But also because I would get bored and have nothing else to do; not a whole lot happens here. The busiest days are when a part of Gizmo, myself, or something in the lighthouse breaks, and I have to fix it.”

“You can fix things?” Nya asked. 

“Yes. I used to help Dr. Julien fix things around the lighthouse, and he wanted me to be able to fix Gizmo and myself, just in case.” He scratched the back of his head. “Needless to say, I break down a lot more than Gizmo does. It’s okay though. I am still functioning after all.”

“Hmm. You should let me and Pix take a look at you. See if we can find and fix anything before you fall apart again,” Nya suggested.

“You and Pixal?” Echo asked with nervousness in his voice. “Umm…Okay. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow though.”

“Why?”

“It’s time for me to go into rest mode. Normally it would be later at night, but it’s been quite a day.” 

Despite the initial situation, Lloyd found himself chuckling. “I hear that.” He yawned and looked at Nya, Pixal, and Skylor. “We should probably head to bed too; we’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> Look who has another story out! :D
> 
> Admittedly, I started writing this during Hunted, and was hoping to have it done before the season ended (and before they showed Echo), but neither thing ended up happening. Echo still hasn't returned, but I did like the season.
> 
> One thing in particular that I need to mention is the Skybound memory thing. Nya (and Jay) did originally remember the events of Skybound, but as the new timeline went on, the memories eventually faded away. Now they, along with the other Ninja and Echo, only have occasional feelings of deja vu, and sometimes have vague dreams about events (like Echo's dream of two people coming to the lighthouse). 
> 
> If there are any questions about anything else, please let me know! And thank you for reading!


End file.
